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FORT COLLINS, Colo. (CBS4) – Some people living in Fort Collins are looking to ban fracking for 5 years. The group’s first move is to try and restrict fracking within city limits.

Citizens for a Healthy Fort Collins turned in more than 8,000 signatures, twice the number needed to put a 5-year fracking moratorium initiative on the November ballot.

“We worked really hard to get a lot of signatures from all of the citizens of Fort Collins,” campaign organizer Kelly Giddens said.

Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is a method of extracting oil or gas by drilling into layers of rock. It’s a practice the oil and gas industry says has been used safely for decades. Opponents claim fracking causes health problems by poisoning the air and ground water.

“People really care and they’re starting to get educated,” a fracking opponent said.

Activists say a 5-year delay on fracking would give residents enough time to get answers.

“This is really about making it possible for the voters to decide whether or not they would like to gather more information before they allow fracking inside the city limits of Fort Collins,” Giddens said.

In order to move forward at least 3,900 of the signatures must be validated, then it’s up to the city council.

“Then they get the option of deciding whether to adopt the ordinance or put a ballot question on the November ballot,” Fort Collins City Clerk Wanda Nelson said.

Nelson has 5 days to determine whether they have enough valid signatures to put the issue on the ballot.